Pontiac G3 Comes State-Side!

[04bonnie]

Originally Posted by K Dawg ONE

Just an FYI guys (aimed at the 'haters'), the general consumer (the people who actually BUY the G3/G5...the guys keeping GM afloat with their monthly payments) dont care about the 'image' of Pontiac like you guys do (buying a ten year old firebird in no way helps GM....heck, id bet your tuneup parts come from PepBoys and not the GM Parts dept too).

It doesnt need to bring ..."some engine and other upgrades"....that G3 exists already, its called the G5. We do it all day long. Show a G3. The customer wants more equipment, bigger motor/more hp, larger car. We 'Walk' them to a G5. If its the same story on the G5, we 'walk' them to a G6 and so on.

Seriously, its already sad enough as it is that a fully loaded G3/Aveo overlaps the base G5 and is the same price as a 1SB SE G5. Do you really want a 2.0L Turbo G3 with brembos, recaros, and nav costing $25+K. Get real.

Very well put! That's it in a nutshell. Pumping in all the options on these little cars gets them above what they need to be. Allow them to be cheap, entry level cars. YES, Pontiac can have one.

I still wish the Sunfire didn't go away, my first NEW car was a 95 Sunfire GT, black, with sunroof. It was sweet, but then over time, the Sunfire became cheapened, and refreshened, not for the good, and it became known as a "chick" car. The G5 is nice, but way too much like the Cobalt. The G3 is also very much like the Aveo, however I think done just a little better then the G5 rebadge. Keeping JUST the 5-door G3, and JUST the 2-door G5 makes perfect sense, there's not that much overlap, because someone just wanting 2-door gets the G5, and those that want more utility in a hatchback, and 2 extra doors, and about the same fuel economy, but at a cheaper price, get the G3. (Actually, the G3 looks like a better all around package then the G5, more usefull).

Oh well, not everyone can agree with this decision, but with today's gas prices, sad to say, this IS the right move for Pontiac at this given time.

[K Dawg ONE]

Originally Posted by Chevyfan101

This isn't about what you said but where did you get that pic of Happy 100 GM from Ford??

It was posted in a thread on GMI MO NI...from FOMOCO HQ in DB, MI, OK? TTYL

[FierySolstice]

G3 = 34 mpg
Vibe = 32 mpg

Umm, I'd rather have the Vibe. What is GM thinking here???

[texassierradude]

Originally Posted by MrCritical

This gives the dealer a car roughly 4 grand less than a G5 for a buyer who's looking at a Korean price car to buy. Plus it's another 30+ mpg car for Pontiac.

There'll never be a 4 door G5. They want those buyers to move up to a G6, or go to a Chevy dealer.

Guys, the bank is empty for designing a new car at GM that was not already past drawing board stage. It's this or nothing. If it fails, GM hasn't lost much investment.

MrCritical, this was the first post on this thread with some common sense attached to it. They had to do something quickly. The vast majority of these psudo-experts on this site don't understand the gestation of an ALL NEW model. What was the price of gas one year ago as compared to today? And yet, if GM had done nothing we would be subjected to the whining about there was no truly small car in the BPG family.

[texassierradude]

Originally Posted by LAChevy24

just one question enters my mind: WHY?

Good of you to have such a knowledgeable question while supporting Toyota and Honda. Maybe I'll go and join the Toyota talk and comment about Camry and Sienna engine sludge issues, Tundra bed bounce (see that on You Tube). How about the mis-set odometers on late model Hondas? Hmmm?

[GMCSonoma]

Originally Posted by texassierradude

MrCritical, this was the first post on this thread with some common sense attached to it. They had to do something quickly. The vast majority of these psudo-experts on this site don't understand the gestation of an ALL NEW model. What was the price of gas one year ago as compared to today? And yet, if GM had done nothing we would be subjected to the whining about there was no truly small car in the BPG family.

O-RLY???


Anyways...it does take time...GM tends to spill their beans then take 5 years to come to market, whereas much of the competition seems to keep quiet...

That has been my experience...

[A Bum In A Bus]

Looks lots better than the Honda Fit, I would like one to do my short trips about town and such....

[texassierradude]

Originally Posted by Ultra Magnus

Travesty. This is proof that GM has no idea what they are doing. Instead of spending money to rebadge the Aveo, they could have spent that money to make the G6 and the G8 better cars. This was completely un-necessary.

It would have taken a whole lot of GM's share of the $25 billion to get a 34 mpg highway rating for the G6 and G8. It's all about the advertising.

[texassierradude]

Originally Posted by GMCSonoma

O-RLY???


Anyways...it does take time...GM tends to spill their beans then take 5 years to come to market, whereas much of the competition seems to keep quiet...

That has been my experience...

Yes..really

[genjy]

“The small car segment has literally exploded in recent months, with sales up nearly 33 percent in the first six months of 2008 alone,” said Susan Docherty, vice president of Buick-Pontiac-GMC. “With its proven success in other markets, we felt the time was right to bring the G3 into the BPG portfolio for our U.S. customers.”

Originally Posted by genjy

My personal take: I think GM should fire Susan Docherty.

BPG Exec thinks Pontiac is a good fit for a Volt-clone

[texassierradude]

Originally Posted by 04bonnie

Contrary to popular belief: This car could do well, here's a few personal facts about myself, and I'm sure there are people like me out there:

Fact one for myself: I'm a car enthusiest, a Pontiac enthusiest, and a GM enthusiest.

Fact two: I've owned 4 pontiacs, including a classic 1972 GTO (still have)

Fact three: I have a brand new Buick Enclave, with a payment of $533/month

Fact four: I have a 2004 Bonneville, that will be paid off in March 09, which my wife drives for her work vehicle.

Fact five: If something ever happened to the Bonneville (worst case scenario: if it were to be totalled), while we still are paying for the Enclave, we would need a real cheap car, because of our large Enclave payment.

Fact six: I don't buy used cars, prefer to buy new

Fact seven: I would buy a G3 if something happened to the Bonneville

So....yes, car guys, Pontiac enthusiests, etc. CAN like a car like this. Is it a rebadge? Yes, I agree with that fact. Is it better then the Chevy? Not really. Would I buy it over the Chevy? Yes. Why? For two reasons: It looks better (especially the interior, gauge area), and I prefer the smaller BPG dealer we just purchased our Enclave from, over the very large "zoo" of a Chevy dealer in our area. (actually, I used to work at that very Chevy dealer, and have no hard feelings about it, left on good terms, but still....purchansing our Enclave was a joy, compared to what customers went thru in the delivery process at the Chevy dealer). That being said, my point is that just because the G3 is a rebadge, doesn't mean it won't get sales because it's a copy of the Chevy. Brand loyalty, dealership loyalty, and salesperson loyalty all have a factor.

Good luck to this new little car. I hope it's far better received by the buying public, then it is on this forum. It's at a price point (the Chevy starts at $12K+) that average people can actually afford it, unlike the Volt which is getting huge positive reviews, but it's way out of most people's league.

Don't bash this car, even enthusiests like me would consider it as a second, or third vehicle, and the very fact all of you are bashing it, or saying it's an embarrasment, might sway someone away from it, and GM all together. Aren't we all supposed to be GM FANS here?

If I'm a nerd for liking this car, then so be it. I'll blow past all of you in my 72 GTO, and that's enough "Pontiac Excitement" for me.

Excellent post. I too thought we were supposed to be GM FANS here, seems like the vast majority of postings are from the GM BASHERS. God help us if we had too much positive thought here....

[texassierradude]

Originally Posted by K Dawg ONE

Just an FYI guys (aimed at the 'haters'), the general consumer (the people who actually BUY the G3/G5...the guys keeping GM afloat with their monthly payments) dont care about the 'image' of Pontiac like you guys do (buying a ten year old firebird in no way helps GM....heck, id bet your tuneup parts come from PepBoys and not the GM Parts dept too).

It doesnt need to bring ..."some engine and other upgrades"....that G3 exists already, its called the G5. We do it all day long. Show a G3. The customer wants more equipment, bigger motor/more hp, larger car. We 'Walk' them to a G5. If its the same story on the G5, we 'walk' them to a G6 and so on.

Seriously, its already sad enough as it is that a fully loaded G3/Aveo overlaps the base G5 and is the same price as a 1SB SE G5. Do you really want a 2.0L Turbo G3 with brembos, recaros, and nav costing $25+K. Get real.

AMEN!!!!

[scout62]

G3 3dr Gm!

[96_impala_ss]

Originally Posted by FenwickHockey65

*shoots self in head in despair*

*makes it a double suicide*

[96_impala_ss]

Originally Posted by MrCritical

Guys, the bank is empty for designing a new car at GM that was not already past drawing board stag. It's this or nothing. If it fails, GM hasn't lost much investment.

but wouldnt that investment been better off rebadging and stripping a cadillac cts as a pontiac?
or just rebadging a better GM car for pontiac.

Originally Posted by Bokl

Buick should be upscale brand like lincoln.

If Buick = Lincoln then Pontiac = Mercury as Chevy = Ford
sadly enough, Mercury positions their cars to compete with Buick and Lincoln to Cadillac.

Originally Posted by sjsjedi

You can put lipstick on a pig ... er Pontiac grill on an Aveo ... but its still a pig.

er still an Aveo.
umm Actually Daewoo Kalos


is it for real this time or just another rumor? this story has been posted numerous times on gmi but never confirmed.